arren Hastings, Esquire, has informed
the Court of Directors, in his letter of the 21st of November, 1781, "is
highly revered by the natives of the Hindoo persuasion, so that many who
have acquired independent fortunes retire to close their days in a place
so eminently distinguished for its sanctity"; and he further acquaints
the Directors, "that it may rather be considered as the seat of the
Hindoo religion than as the capital of a province. But as its
inhabitants are not composed of Hindoos only, the _former_ wealth which
flowed into it from the offerings of pilgrims, as well as from the
transactions of exchange, for which its central situation is adapted,
has attracted numbers of Mahomedans, who still continue to reside in it
with their families." And these circumstances of the city of Benares,
which not only attracted the attention of all the different
descriptions of men who inhabit Hindostan, but interested them warmly in
whatever it might suffer, did in a peculiar manner require that the
Governor-General and Council of Calcutta should conduct themselves with
regard to its rulers and inhabitants, when it became dependent on the
Company, on the most distinguished principles of good faith, equity,
moderation, and mildness.

II. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing, late prince or Zemindar of the province
aforesaid, was a great lord of the Mogul Empire, dependent on the same,
through the Vizier of the Empire, the late Sujah ul Dowlah, Nabob of
Oude; and the said Bulwant Sing, in the commencement of the English
power, did attach himself to the cause of the English Company; and the
Court of Directors of the said Company did acknowledge, in their letter
of the 26th of May, 1768, that "Bulwant Sing's joining us at the time he
did was of _signal service_, and the stipulation in his favor was what
he was justly entitled to"; and they did commend "the care that had been
taken [by the then Presidency] of those that had shown their attachment
to them [the Company] during the war"; and they did finally express
their hope and expectation in the words following: "The moderation and
attention paid to those who have espoused our interests in this war will
_restore_ our reputation in Hindostan, and that the Indian powers will
be convinced _NO breach of treaty will ever have our sanction_."

III. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing died on the 23d of August, 1770, and
his son, Cheyt Sing, succeeding to his rights and pretensions, the
Presidency of